SATAN RIDES THE MEDIA
A Documentary by Torstein Grude/VIDEO
Subfilm in co-production with TV2
The events related to Norwegian black metal in the early 90s have already been documented in the "Lords of Chaos" book by Michael Moynihan, but "Satan Rides the Media" is probably the first documentary dealing with the subject. It is a 52-minute developing story- a little bit in the Discovery channel crime-story style- about church burnings and the murder of Euronymous. The story includes interviews with people involved (Varg Vikernes), black metal bands (Mayhem and Hades), journalists covering the case, policemen, and Satanism researchers.
The main focus is on how the media covered church burnings and the subsequent murder, indirectly blaming journalists for representing Varg as a guru and influencing young kids to burn a few more churches. While the media's working methods for this case do not differ much from other cases, and the documentary does not break any new ground here, it adds a visual side to a well-known story that many non-Norwegians in the metal underground have only read or heard about. Some of the episodes that are worth mentioning include scenes with Varg Vikernes in court, Vannesa Warwick announcing the first appearance of Burzum's clip on MTV, and the truly evil-breathing Mayhem live shows.
People into metal and particularly into black metal, will probably miss the depth of Moynihan's book, but the above-mentioned visuals compensate for that, even if there could have been more of them instead of frequent short interviews with journalists, who care more about what their newspapers write about and the subsequent impact on society and much less about the artistic side of black metal, viewing black metal as another form of rebellious youth culture trying to attract attention.
As an extensive crime-story, the documentary provides adequate coverage, starting with an interview with the journalist who wrote the first article about Varg in BT, one of the biggest Norwegian national newspapers. The documentary is not likely to convert outsiders to black metal, because during its 52 minutes- save the 30 seconds of Mayhem live episodes- it does not show black metal from any attractive angle (even though the genre had an undeniably thought-provoking element that much of current mainstream lacks). The movie justifies its title well, exposing the media's willingness to jump on hot trends, and it provides an effective and rather objective insight into a part of Norway's social happenings between 1992 and 1996. I am certainly happy to have this video and it will be nice to watch it every now and then. Even 50 years from now. The film is in Norwegian but with English subtitles; it's available in PAL or in NTSC from Subfilm's website. (GS)
[SubFilm, C. Sundts gt. 26, 5004 Bergen, Norway] [http://www.subfilm.no] |
